Chicago police: Crime was down in April

May 10, 2010 9:40:57 AM PDT

May 9, 2010 (CHICAGO) --

Chicago police say despite concerns that there seemed to be a spike in crime last month, research shows a different story.Police say violent crime was down 11 percent in April, and overall crime was down 6.9 percent.

However, homicides increased by 8 percent in April, according to Chicago police, and police say there have been 3,000 fewer crimes.

As of May 7, at least 127 murders have occurred in Chicago, which is four more than this time last year, but below the average for the last five years, police say.

Supt. Jody Weis says a big reason for the drop in crime is increased information sharing after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"9/11 was the point in time where people said no agency can do this by themselves. We're constantly trying to share information, and the more information we have, we can create intelligence with the goal of trying to deploy our resources quicker," Weis said.

There is concern, however, that the statistics may not reveal what is really happening on Chicago's streets.

"You have under-reported crime. People are scared. They don't want to come forth and provide information. People get robbed every day and they may not report it. People get hit in the face. People are scared," said Ceasefire's Tio Hardiman.